Rumblings xtra: Items that didn't make print edition

Friday

Jan 31, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 31, 2014 at 2:28 PM

Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase told reporters during preparations for the Super Bowl this week that he didn't decide not to interview for the Browns head coaching job because of his poor perceptions of the team.

Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase told reporters during preparations for the Super Bowl this week that he didn’t decide not to interview for the Browns head coaching job because of his poor perceptions of the team.

“My decision was strictly because we went (to) the playoffs,” Gase said. “It would have been hard for me to change gears that fast, especially once we beat San Diego (in the division round).”

Gase was on Cleveland’s initial list of prospective candidates, but he decided not to interview until the team was eliminated from the playoffs. With the Broncos winning, that became problematic for him.

“My mindset was on what we wanted to do to get to this point here to try and finish this off,” Gase said. “I just remember how I felt last year after we lost that Baltimore game. Me personally, I would not have been able to forgive myself if something would have happened that first playoff game. I would have felt like I didn’t spend enough time doing what God needed me to do to fulfill my role.”

Hiring a staff and coordinating scouting for the draft would have created a time crunch.

“After this game, we’re like two weeks from the combine,” he said. “The turnaround is going to be unbelievable.”

The Blue Jays have become a favorite to land one of two of the prominent free agent starting pitchers available, which include former Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez, in part because they have two No. 1 draft picks that are protected from loss to free agent signings. The Jays would lose only a second rounder if they signed a protected a free agent, which wouldn’t substantially hurt their draft prospects, a factor with some of the other clubs in the hunt for starting pitching.

An “executive who knows Jimenez well” told CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman that Jimenez “would be a good fit for Toronto” and the same could also be said about Ervin Santana, another prominent free agent starting pitcher.

Two rival GMs suggested Jimenez may now be willing to sign for a three-year deal (one suggested a three-year deal for $39 million) and another noted that "Everyone's price is coming down."

The Tribe might still be interested in signing Jimenez, depending on how the market shakes out. To this point, they have been more concerned about discussions for a multi-year deal for Justin Masterson, who can become a free agent after the 2014 season. Last week, the Plain Dealer reported that talks for a multi-year deal were suspended while Masterson’s agent and the Indians attempt to work toward a one-year deal that will avoid the arbitration process. Masterson filed at $11.8 million and the team countered at $8.05 million.

Bronson Arroyo let his frustration show in an interview with ESPN’s Jayson Stark. The former Reds starting pitcher has yet to get an offer in free agency. In the meantime he watched the Yankees give $155 million at a Japanese pitcher – Masahiro Tanaka -- who had never thrown a pitch in the big leagues.

"I get [Clayton] Kershaw," Arroyo said. "I get why he got all that money. But then you've got guys like Dice-K [Matsuzaka], who came over here and was good for the first couple years but then didn't pan out. And when he doesn't pan out, they all just forget and go on to the next guy who's not proven, and pay him.

"Meanwhile, they forget about guys like me, who have done the job for the last eight or 10 years, and treat them like they've never done anything in this game. That's hard, man."

Arroyo’s name has been linked to a lot of teams, including the Reds, but there have been no concrete offers.

"I don't even have an offer to turn down," he said. "So I might still be sitting here on March 1. I don't know what to do. I'm not trying to break the bank. But I am a guy who's performed for the last 10 years as consistently as anybody in the game. And for some reason, nobody's thrown me an offer yet."

Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant met with reporters this week and as might have been expected, couldn’t explain the team’s continuing problems on the court. The acquisition of Luol Deng from the Bulls hasn’t noticeably turned this around; Cleveland lost four out of five on its recent home stand, then lost 117-86 last night to the Knicks in New York..

When asked if there was a chance the Cavs would make another deal before Feb. 20 trade deadline, Grant made no promises.

"That's a hard one," Grant said. "Predicting trades is fairly difficult. I have no idea. We're happy with Deng, so if we don't do anything, we feel like we've added a quality player. If there's an opportunity to improve the team, we'll take advantage of it."

Deng has left the door open for a return to Chicago when he becomes a free agent at the end of the season. When the Chicago Sun-Times recently asked the Cavaliers player about the prospect of that happening, he first gave a sarcastic answer.

‘‘I don’t know,’’ Deng said. ‘‘Maybe they’ll offer me three years, $30 million. That might be an option to take.’’

Deng walked away from that offer several days before the Bulls made the decision to trade him to Cleveland. He must not be against the idea of going back however.

‘‘I can’t say,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s no bad blood or anything. For me to sit here and say I’m taking Chicago out of the equation, that’s stupid. I was there for 10 years.’’

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